Review: "Carnosaur Weekend (Kyler Knightly and Damon Cole Book 1)" by Garnett Elliot

Imagine, if you will, a world where it is possible to go back in time to play golf in relative safety while dinosaurs move around you. That idea is just a small part of the three highly entertaining tales in Carnosaur Weekend. The three tales in the book are all good ones and highly entertaining.

 

“Carnosaur Weekend” opens the book where pterodactyls fly above the golf course and an allosaurus and a carnosaur are on the fairways. A RPG is a most helpful weapon in times like this where the super-rich are being courted by real estate developers selling time shares in the late cretaceous period. Those running this deal somehow got their hands on a “Zygma Projector” making their very questionable venture in the timeline possible. Damon Cole is already working the case in the far distant past and is under deep cover. Kyler Knightly is being sent in to assist because the deal has to be shut down before they screw up the past and cause irreversible changes in the present. 

 
“The Zygma Gambit” comes next and was also published in the very good The Lizard’s Ardent Uniform and Other Stories. Set a bit before the preceding story, Kyler Knightly is one of those very special people known as “dreamers” and is employed by Continuity Inc. Through their dreams the dreamers have the ability to foresee the future. Kyler has been awakened by a dream in his own bed in the early morning hours of April 14, 2223. For this to happen outside of the Precog bays where he normally works means that this dream was very powerful and definitely coming true. Kyler has to get to his Uncle Damon Cole and tell him about the dream before Cole goes on his mission.

The final story title “The Worms of Terpsichore” is very good and highly reminiscent of the classic type of science fiction many of us grew up on. The spaceship Sallust sent off a one word message via their orbital beacon and then went radio silent. No further transmission has come from where they landed on the surface. The one word message also does not make sense. Clearly, something has happened.  Raj and Thea will go down to the site by way of a lander from their spaceship known as the Astarte. This type of search and rescue mission is just part of what they do as members of “Frontier Swift Response.” While this isn’t at time travel story and Damon Cole and Kyler Knightly are not involved at all, it is still a very good tale. After all, any story that uses a flame-gun is automatically pretty good.

Author Garnett Elliot’s bio and ads for other books from Beat To A Pulp including installments of the excellent Jack LaramieDrifter Detective series finish out the book.

The three science fiction tales in Carnosaur Weekend quickly yank readers to a very different time and place. The multiple characters involved have considerable depth that never gets in the way of the science fiction adventure. These are adventures when anything is possible as the dangers are many and one has to stay alive by one’s wits. The tales of Carnosaur Weekend are all very good ones very much worth your time.

Carnosaur Weekend (Kyler Knightly and Damon Cole Book 1)

Garnett Elliot

Beat To A Pulp Press

http://www.beattoapulp.com

October 2014

ASIN: B00OTT7UN8

E-Book (also available in print)

65 Pages

$0.99

Material supplied by the publisher in exchange for my objective review.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2014